Start At the Beginning
by The Glorious Cheshire Cat
Summary: A reader asked for an explainitory one-shot. Here it is...finally. It is the background that comes before Cups of Tea. It explains why Alice and Jervis are in the 'normal' world and Ari and Zeek's appearance. Enjoy!


**Start At the Beginning…**

_By: The Glorious Cheshire Cat_

Disclaimer: I don't own _Batman: The Animated Series_. This is for Readerryu, who asked for this weeks before Christmas. Thanks for being so patient with me.

The land was ravaged by war and bloodshed. Members of the populace wondered around, helping where they could.

A woman with bright green eyes that had slits for pupils, a grey and black striped tail, and matching ears on her head among brown hair that needed to be brushed walked quickly towards some caves.

A man dressed in red and black stood in the entrance of the main cave. He swept the fraying four corner hat from his head and bowed to the woman.

She smiled tiredly and took his offered arm. "You're going to need a new hat Knave."

He grinned. "I'll get one before we bring them back from the Other Side of the Looking Glass. And then we can finally finish the wedding ceremony. Do you think they're all right Cheshire?"

Cheshire nodded. "As the Head Royal Advisor, I can tell how they are. The two of them are healthy, but there may be a slight problem. I have a feeling that's making my tail bristle. Let's hurry to the Mirror Pools. I hate that we had to send them through a Mirror instead of a Rabbit Hole."

The two entered a large cavern with pools of water in various sizes dotting the floor. They walked over to a large basin that stood on a pillar of what looked like a stack of stone teacups.

Knave pulled a vial containing two golden hairs, one much longer than the other, from the inner pocket of his threadbare doublet.

Cheshire took it and turned it over to drop the two hairs into the basin.

The ripples in the water stilled and the surface seemed to become reflective like a mirror. The forms of two blond people took shape.

"Bloody stinking Bandersnatch!" Cheshire cursed.

Knave gave her a surprised look. "What's the cause of such language, Ches my love?"

"They were separated when they went through. I mean, I expected the memory loss, but they're not even thinking of courting the other!"

"But they have to Kitty. Wonderland needs its rulers, its true and proper rulers or it might fade away." Knave protested.

Cheshire bent closer to the basin, her tail whipping back and forth furiously in the still cavern air. "Do you honestly think I don't know that, Knave? I know better than anyone what the possible consequences of their absence are."

"What are we going to do?" Knave questioned.

Cheshire turned to him. "We quickly get Wonderland back on its feet after the War and then go do our duty to the Crown by making sure our beloved rulers end up together and back where they belong." She strode from the caverns with Knave on her heels. "And _we'll_ take a Rabbit Hole since we have more time to actually fond one that leads to that world."

_ He stood at the end of the aisle, dressed in his finest and his hat highly brushed._

_ The bridal march began to play and the woman who held his heart in her hands began the walk towards him, her own blue eyes alight with happiness and love._

_ She had just reached his side and taken his hand when the doors at the far end of the room were thrown open._

_ Three queens stood there, the Queen of Hearts and her two daughters the Chess Queens._

_ "Wonderland belongs to me and my daughters! You will turn the crown over to me!" the Queen of Hearts declared._

_ Guards went rushing to stop their progress and duel with the soldiers that had come with them._

_ Guests began screaming and rushing to get away._

_ "Cheshire!" he shouted._

_ A woman with a grey and black striped tail and ears appeared by his and his bride's side in an instant. "This way Your Majesty! We have to get you and Queen Alice out of here."_

_ Alice looked at him. "There's not enough time to find a Rabbit Hole."_

_ He squeezed her hand comfortingly. "We'll have to risk a Mirror, my dear."_

_ "But they're dangerous, Jervis." Alice told him._

_ The cat-woman tugged on their arms. "His Majesty is right. A Mirror is your only hope. Just hang on tightly to each other. I will fight the war that is surely to follow and rebuild in your absence. It is imperative that the two of you are safe. The Royal Line must not be ended or Wonderland will disappear forever."_

_ The three made their way to a secret passage nearby and traveled through it until they came to the King's Study._

_ A large Looking Glass stood in the corner._

_ The cat-woman led the way over to it and quickly muttered something to it._

_ The surface began to ripple._

_ She turned to the Royal Couple. "You must hurry through. I will come get you when it's safe."_

_ He nodded and put a hand on the cat-woman's shoulder. "Thank you Cheshire. Your loyalty and devotion to the Crown will be rewarded."_

_ She grinned her trademark grin. "It is my pleasurrre to serve. Now go!"_

_ He kissed his bride. "Come my dearest. I wish we had another moment together, but Time won't do a thing I ask."_

_ She smiled. "He never does."_

_ The Royal Couple stepped through the Mirror, clinging as tightly as they could to the other._

_ The cat-woman muttered something that instantly stilled the rippling surface and smashed the Mirror with a candle holder._

_ The door to the study burst open and the Queen of Hearts entered with a large group of her guards and the Knave of Hearts._

_ "Where are they?" roared the Queen of Hearts._

_ The cat-woman grinned, standing tall. "Somewhere that you cannot touch them. The Royal Line will never end. Long live the King and Queen of Wonderland!"_

_ The Knave was floored by the cat-woman and felt his heart quiver._

_ "Seize her!" ordered the Queen of Hearts._

_ Guards moved towards the cat-woman, but she simply faded away, her huge and smug smile the last thing to disappear._

_ On the other side of the now broken Mirror, the Royal Couple lost their grip on the other and fell, still reaching out for the other._

Jervis Tetch sat up in bed, breathing hard. He wiped away the cold sweat he'd broken out in.

Snatches of his dream came back to him, but made no sense.

He sighed as he got out of bed and began his morning routine.

*Three Weeks Later*

Alice Pleasance squeaked as she ran into someone, dropping the pile of papers she was carrying. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." she apologized as she knelt down to pick up the papers.

"Here, let me help you with those." a female voice stated as a body joined her in picking the papers up.

Alice looked up to find a gorgeous woman with dark brown hair, sparkling green eyes, and a wide smile helping pick up the papers.

The woman held out her hand. "I'm Arianna Fields, the new secretary over in the Robotics Research Department. Most everyone calls me Ari. And the big lug behind me is my boyfriend Ezekiel Redd. Everyone calls him Zeek."

Alice shook it with a smile. "I'm Alice Pleasance. I work for Mr. Tetch."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Ari told her.

Zeek nodded in agreement.

Alice took the papers from Ari. "Well I'd best be getting back to work. Maybe we'll see each other around."

"You can count on it." Ari returned before Alice rushed off.

Zeek stood beside Ari as they watched Alice go down the hall. "So that's the Queen. She's pretty, Kitty."

Ari nodded. "Yes. And the man she's talking to is the King as you very well know."

Down the hallway, Jervis was speaking with Alice about how he was going to go make another pot of tea, asking if she wanted to join him.

Alice quickly placed the papers on her desk and joined him.

Ari turned back towards where the department she was going to be working in was located. "Come along. I need to settle in so we can get started on bringing them together."

"Yes, Kitty."

"It's Ari when we're in this world, Knave. We have a cover to keep." She started down the hallway.

Zeek followed.


End file.
